Giles Coren is a Massive Cock
August 7th, 2008
Now then. My attention was recently directed to this article. If you're not Polish then I would suggest that you will not understand just how offensive I find this poor excuse for journalism to be.
One of the lads from kibice-uk wrote a letter to the editor of the Times which is reproduced below. Fortunately, the lad from kibice is much more articulate than I and he doesn't seem to lose his temper. Here it is:
"Dear Sir,
I refer to the above article written by your columnist Giles Coren in the weekend edition of the Times. As a regular reader of your newspaper, I am shocked to read something so biased and so full of historical and geographical inaccuracies. I have never felt compelled to write in person to the editor of any newspaper and it deeply saddens me that it is to one that I have here thereto held in such high esteem.
First and foremost, let us not forget that the history of the Jewish people in Poland reaches back a thousand years. I would kindly like to remind Mr Coren that from the 13th century onwards Poland with its vast religious freedoms and tolerance was a haven particularly for the Jewish people, in contrast to most of Western Europe, where persecution, especially following the Black Death, was rife. During this time Poland became the home of Europe's largest Jewish population and remained so until the outbreak of World War II. Under King Kazimierz the Great in the mid 14th century, the Jewish population flourished and Poland became an 'America' for so many of them. His ratification of The General Charter of Jewish Liberties, known as the Statute of Kalisz - a precedent in modern Europe at the time - guaranteed safety, religious freedom and personal liberties for Jews in Poland. It was under his rule that the kidnapping of Jewish children for the purposes of enforced Christian baptisms was made punishable by death.
By the time World War II began, there were some 3.1m Polish Jews, representing 10% of the overall population according to official census figures. Their contribution in the pre-war years to Polish literature, culture, science and music was immense and far exceeded their population representation. To this day children are brought up on the poetry of famous Polish Jewish authors such Julian Tuwin and Jan Brzechwa. Jewish political parties, from left to right were represented in Polish Parliament. Yiddish as a language blossomed as most Polish Jews identified it as their native tongue. Only New York City had more Jewish residents than Warsaw. It was very much a cosmopolitan city. And above all it was just as much a Jewish Polish city as it was a Christian Polish city and with the outbreak of war, Polish Jewish soldiers were among the first to fight against the Nazi oppressor and represented over 10% of the Polish Army in September 1939.
Mr Coren's reference to the burning of synagogues as an amusement at Easter for the ancestors of those Poles going home now is truly offensive and a wide-sweeping exaggerated stereotype unfit for your newspaper. Yes there were shameful isolated incidents of Poles taking part in the massacre of Jewish people during and after World War II, such as the Kielce pogrom. This wasn't something confined just to Poland, similar events happened throughout Soviet controlled countries during this time, such as the pogroms in Velke Topolcany (Slovakia) and Miskolc (Hungary), leading to speculation that this was part of a wider action orchestrated by the Soviet intelligence. Ultimately, the perpetrators that took part in it bear moral responsibility for their individual actions irrespective of whether they were or were not orchestrated by the Soviet intelligence.
However, Mr Coren conveniently chooses to forget the more numerous, but less mentioned, Poles who saved so many Jewish lives during the War. Some 6,000 of them that are honored by Israel's Yad Vashem memorial. These people did so, knowing full well that they risked certain death if they were caught, as unlike most German-occupied countries, the Nazis had imposed an automatic death penalty for any assistance to Jews in Poland. People, such as Irena Sendlerowa, who sadly passed away this May, saved some 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto. There are countless stories like hers that were unreported. Let us not forget "?egota" either - a governmental underground organization, whose sole purpose was to help the country's Jewish population find places of safety in Nazi-occupied Poland. It is credited with saving some 4,000 Polish Jews and was the only such organization in occupied Europe.
While Mr Coren's grasp of history is evidently weak and biased, his sense of geography is just embarrassingly pathetic. The distance between Warsaw and Belgrade is some 826km. To suggest that Radovan Karadzic instigated genocide 'so near to Poland' is akin to saying Josef Fritzl's dungeon of abuse was located 'on the footsteps of London' - the distance between London and Vienna is a 'mere' 767km after all. More to the point, I object to this line of insinuation. It does nothing but reinforce Mr Coren's lack of knowledge on the subject matter. Nor is politics Mr Coren's forte it seems either - Poland has a liberal government; the Czech Republic is run by the Civic Democrats and the Social Democrats; the Slovak Republic by the Social Democrats, and Hungary by Socialists. I am unclear who Mr Coren has in mind when he mentions 'virulently racist populist politicians holding significant power now in Central and Eastern Europe'. One other factual inaccuracy to note - Lithuania was not part of the same state as Poland. They were semi-federal republics within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which united the Crown of the Polish Kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
When one reads Mr Coren's article, one may be forgiven for mistakenly thinking that the oppressor in World War II was Poland itself. Let us not forget that it was Poland that fought from day one to the bitter end. It was Poland that lost 6m of its population (half Christian, half Jewish) of which 90% were victims of prisons, death camps, executions and annihilations. That is more as a percentage of population than any other country. Poland also lost over a third of its national assets and half the country was swallowed up by the Soviet Union. If that wasn't enough they then endured Soviet induced Communism for another 45 years which stifled the economy and suppressed freedom of speech and other personal liberties. They were not allowed to participate in the Victory celebrations nor were they permitted to accept aid under the Marshall Plan which Western Europe so generously received. While undoubtedly no other nation suffered more than the Jews, no other country suffered as much as Poland. And ultimately, the Polish Jews suffered the most.
Polish Jews have always played and continue to play an important role in modern day Poland. Their role in the transformation of Poland from a Communist Soviet satellite to a democratic EU and NATO member country speaks for itself, from the likes of Adam Michnik, one of the leading organizers of the democratic opposition movement in Poland to Bronis?aw Geremek, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs who signed Poland's accession to NATO. Mr Geremek, who died so tragically last month in a fatal car crash, was smuggled out of the Warsaw Ghetto together with his mother and placed under protection of Polish Catholics.
Finally, I would like to suggest that maybe Mr Coren pay a visit to a country that has been home for so many Jews for over a thousand years before making such ill-informed remarks. He may be pleasantly surprised by the rich Jewish culture that is present and blossoming in the former Jewish quarters of Kazimierz in Kraków for example. If not, then may I suggest sticking to the restaurant column as to quote my friend, simply being Jewish does not qualify Mr Coren as a historian.
Yours sincerely,
*******"
RIP Adam Ledwon
June 13th, 2008
Ex-Polish international Adam Ledwon, 34, has been found dead in his home in Klagenfurt, Austria. It is thought he committed suicide.
Ledwon, who was working as a summariser for Polsat at the Euro 2008 finals, had been rumoured to have family problems for some time. He was known as an emotional man, often making rash decisions. The day before his suicide he is said to have rung a friend saying "[My wife] has left me I'm off to hang myself...". Unfortunately no one took his words seriously.
Adam Ledwon played 18 games for Poland, scoring one goal in tyhe process. In 1998, on the back of success with GKS Katowice, he gained a move to Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen but could not hold down a regular place in the starting line-up and eventually moved on to Fortuna Cologne. 2000 saw him move to Austria where he defended the colours of Austria Vienna, Admira Wacker, Strum Graz and Austria Karten. His career in Austria spanned 176 games and saw him score 11 goals.
Source: Gazeta Online Edition
Battle For The Future
April 23rd, 2008
When it comes to snapping up young dual nationality talent Germany have been quicker off the mark than the PZPN in recent years. At the last World Cup, during the Poland - Germany game, there were effectively 13 Polish players on the pitch - the 11 selected by Pawel Janas plus Podolski and Klose, playing for our teutonic neighbours.
PZPN, possibly reacting to reports in the media that young Poles felt that they had no other choice than to select Germany due to a lack of contact from anyone within the Polish FA, sent Jerzy Engel to Germany last week to make contact with youngsters with Polish heritage and persuade them that they should be committing to an international career with Poland. It seems that this has not gone down well with our friends from the West and they are trying to persuade their charges to commit to concentrate more on grinding out results with mind-numbingly dull play, diving a lot, moaning and developing curly mullets, i.e. prepare for a future playing for German national side. The friendly German japesters have decided that the best way to influence these young lads is through bullying, name calling and the threat of an end to their career should the "wrong" decision be made.
16 year old Mateusz Protasiewicz, currently at Rot-Weiss Essen, was picked for his regional side but has since been told that if he does not commit to Germany he will no longer be welcome. Sebastian Czajkowski of Schalke and Dominik Kruczek of Borussii Moenchengladbach find themselves in a similar position - "After returning from a couple of games for the Polish [youth] side we were benched by our clubs despite the fact that we're the best players there. The manager didn't even try to hide the reason and admitted that it was to teach us a lesson for our trip to Poland".
Poland's U18 manager, Michal Globisz says he has heard many stories of members of his squad having their Polish roots denigrated by their "teammates" and being put under significant pressure to switch their international allegiances. He also has trouble getting clubs to release players for games played outside the official international periods - something thet his German counterpart does not have to put up with.
The battle for talented youngsters seems to be heating up and the Germans, having learnt their lesson from the Turkish FA who plundered players of Turkish descent from German clubs and they will not give up on young Poles without a fight. The fact that the PZPN now have six fulltime scouts in Germany as well as a number of unofficial obsrevers, bringing the total to around 20, is something that no one in Germany is happy with.
"German clubs jealously guard the products of their youth systems. It costs around €20 to bring a youngster through the ranks, not taking into account the cost of trainers and training facilities" says Tadeusz Slominski an agent in Germany.
Tomasz Waldoch, ex-Polish captain, who used to play for Schalke 04, says that German club sides treat their national side differently to other countries - "[German clubs] bring youngsters through not only for themselves, but also for the national side which is seem as the most important thing in German football", says Waldoch.
Source: Gazeta Online Edition
PZPN Prosecute Polish Prosecutor
April 8th, 2008
Having dithered and dallied (taking the odd break in order to rip off loyal fans) over what to do about the festering stench of corruption in Polish football for over three years, the PZPN have taken only one day to issue proceedings against Kazimierz Olejnik, the ex assistant prosecutor general, who came out and said what most of us have been thinking rather hard for some time now.
In an interview with Gazeta on Monday Olejnik did not hold back in his criticism of th PZPN, claiming amongst other things:
"It is common thought that Polish football, which is epitomised by PZPN, can be looked upon as a mafia"
"PZPN exists for its own benefit, it is nothing but a leech."
"It is quite obvious that those who should be most interested in cleaning up the game, i.e. PZPN and their regional organisations, have consistently done nothing. Maybe it's because a large number of them have been infected by this disease for years now. They have taken part in, acquiesced or tolerated corruption."
"Maybe PZPN have convinced themselves that they are the best, infallible and that Listkiewicz is the saviour. That's not true. They are pulling Polish football into the void."
It did not take long for PZPN to react. A message posted on their internet site said "In reaction to the article in Gazeta Wyborcza and the quotes in that article which tarnish the good name of PZPN, we have decided to take Mr Kazimierz Olejnik to court. The ideas expressed by Mr Olejnik are scandalous and exceed all normal boundaries."
Olejnik replied "It's all abstract at the moment. When I find out formall that this has reached court I will make an official statement. At the moment I will only say that this may well be a good thing. [when it goes to court] a certain things will become clearer.
Ok, I have two comments to make on this. Firstly, should PZPN deign to lower themselves and speak to any Polish football fan they will be told in no uncertain terms that they have no good name to tarnish - they're almost universally (at least in the circles I move in) viewed as money grabbing, no good scum. Secondly - "PZPN! PZPN! JEBAC JEBAC PZPN!"
Source: Gazeta Online Edition
Klicki Kills Korona; Saves Polish Football
April 2nd, 2008
Krzysztof Klicki, the man who bankrolled Korona Kielce into the Ekstraklasa has dealt the club what is likely to be a fatal blow by removing his backing in light of the recent corruption charges the club faces. For those of you that are not aware of this story, it is alleged that former Dariusz Wdowczyk managed to talk his squad into giving up their bonuses in order to use the money to pay-off referees and effectively buy their way up the leagues during his time in charge of the first team.
Klicki seems to be someone from within Polish football who is willing to make a stand against corruption. He seems to be someone who (unlike the president of the PZPN) is not feeding the public lines about "a few black sheep" or (like "The Hairdresser") telling us that he spoke to referees on the phone because "they are acquaintances" and "I like them". He does not qualify corruption by saying it is a necessarily evil which comes about to create a level playing field because everyone is corrupt, which was Wdowczyk's excuse following his arrest earlier this week.
Whether or not Klicki knew about his players buying games is immaterial. What is important is that he is the first to come out and take responsibility. His proclamation that he does not believe Polish football will change for the better in the near future should serve to prick the collective conscience of those who have consistently and with unlikely skill, swept their sins under the carpet.
Klicki's statement and actions should serve as a notice to those players who have been charged with match fixing and yet continue to play in the league; the managers and trainers, "architects" of unbelievable promotions, named in Piotr Dziurowicz's confessional-like interview, who still ply their trade as if nothing had happened; those club officials who, for the right amount, are willing to sell not only the rights to games to TV stations but also the results of games and so any shreds of honesty they may have left and yet carry on in the game and call for penalties for match fixing; those members of the PZPN who, three years after the corruption in Polish football came to national prominence, have only just called for a meeting to discuss it. It seems that it is not Mr Klicki who should be leaving but those outlined above. All of them should go and they should go NOW.
The Korona sponsor's decision has given a signal that the fight against the problems currently killing the game in Poland is winnable. We can, as well as not tolerating corruption, actively fight against it. We can only hope that this can act as a wakeup call to those responsible for Polish football. It would be nice to believe that the PZPN convention on 13th april will see big, mature, intelligent decisions. Maybe we will see a temporary cut in league sizes, dismissal of FA members, the introduction of a program of measures to "fix" Polish football. The possibilities are endless but one thing is for sure - something needs to be done very soon....
Source: Gazeta Online Edition
No Relegation For Corruption
March 31st, 2008
PZPN and it's members want to do away with compulsary relegation for clubs found guilty of corruption, reports Gazeta Online. They have uncovered an agreement between the Polish FA and it's members which would see clubs convicted of corruption face fines as opposed to the current policy of relegation.
The full document is available here, over five pages: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Those of you who cannot read Polish will have to make do with my translation of the original article.
The document starts in reasonable fashion: "This decade has seen corruption become universal and organised. People at all levels of football have participated - referees, observers, delegates, players, managers, board members, shareholders. Corruption has, over time, crept into games at both the highest and lowest levels of the game. It has involved betting as well as agents. Football has known, or at least suspected that corruption exists but it did not react in a relevant nor resolute manner".
"In the first instance corruption arose due to the lack of ethics within the football fraternity, creating a blatant rape (ed - straight translation from the original document) of sporting competition. The main losers have been the supporters who, as a result, have lost confidence in football We have to admit that the blame for corruption in football is carried not only by those actively involved but by the whole football community".
"With respect to the above the meeting od the PZPN, on behalf of the whole football community, apologises to all fans of football whose trust in and love of football has been diminished by dishonest fixtures and ineffective anti-corruption measures".
So far, so fair, not like PZPN to acknowledge fans, let alone apologise to them.
The document goes on to outline a number of measures which, in the eyes of PZPN will deal with the cancer which has taken hold of the Polish game and is (not overlly slowly) killing it.
Article 1: The disciplinary department will look to punish individuals including referees and observers as well as employees, managers, players and board members found to have been involved in corruption by the current investigation by the regional prosecutor in Wroclaw.
Article 2: The following punishments will be introduced for clubs transgressing the disciplinary code regarding corruption in sport and any additional transgressions up to the end of season 2005/06 (including 20th June 2006):
1) With regard to clubs which, up to the end of season 2005/06, transgressed or attempted to transgress, the law of sporting corruption in more than six games played under the auspices of the PZPN, the punishment will be:
- should the club admit their transgression and put themselves up for punishment willingly, the punishment will be relegation by one division as well as a fine from 30,000PLN to 200,000PLN;
- should the club not admit their transgression and not put themselves up for punishment willingly, the punishment will be relegation by two divisions as well as a fine from 30,000PLN to 200,000PLN;
2) With regard to clubs which, up to the end of season 2005/06, transgressed or attempted to transgress, the law of sporting corruption in no more than six games played under the auspices of the PZPN, the punishment will be:
- should the club admit their transgression and put themselves up for punishment willingly, they will be subject to a fine ranging from 30,000PLN to 200,000PLN in addition to having 10 points docked;
- should the club not admit their transgression and not put themselves up for punishment willingly, they will be subject to a fine from 50,000PLN to 200,000PLN in addition to having 10 points docked;
(...)
6) As from the 1st January 2009, clubs found to have transgressed the rules of corruption in sport up to and including the 2005/06 season or having attempted to transgress those rules in games played under the auspices of the PZPN will be faced with the following punishments:
- should the club admit their transgression and put themselves up for punishment willingly, they will be subject to a fine ranging from 50,000PLN to 300,000PLN;
- should the club not admit their transgression and not put themselves up for punishment willingly, they will be subject to a fine from 300,000PLN to 500,000PLN;
Source: Gazeta Online Edition
Dariusz Wdowczyk "Helping Police With Their Enquiries"
March 28th, 2008
Dariusz Wdowczyk was detained by the CBA in a 7am raid on his house today. Wdowczyk, a regular in the national side for many years and currently manager of Division II side Polonia Warszawa, was detained in relation to allegations of corruption at Ekstraklasa side Korona Kielce. this investigation is not linked to the other major corruption scandal involving "the hairdresser".
Wdowczyk's house was searched and he was taken to the district attorney's office in Wroclaw which is heading up investigations into corruption in Polish football where he will be interviewed. Charges, should they be brought, will pertain to Wdowczyk's tim in charge at Korona Kielce. The club advanced from Division III to the Ekstraklasa in two seasons although Wdowczyk left before promotion to the top division.
"If the district attorneys finish their interviews today then we will be able to comment further" says Tomasz Fratczak of the CBA. "I cannot go into detail until a formal charge has been made but I can confirm that this is to do with match fixing and in the case of the menegr, active corruption. This investigation will be totally seperate to the one which has been ongoing at the Wroclaw district attorney's office for some time now".
Fratczak also confirmed that Wdowczyks arrest is directly linked to yesterdays swoops on other individuals linked to the Kielce club. The CBA and the Wroclaw police detained four people on suspicion of match fixing. The chief executive and assistant manager of the club have already been charged with corruption.
"There have been rumours that Korona has been involved in corruption for some time now, similar to those about Jagiellonia Bialystok" says Jacek Sarzalo a Gazeta Wyborcza and sport.pl journalist and writer on corruption in Polish football. "Unofficially it's known that the charges against Wdowczyk have to do with the season in which Korona were in Division III. At the moment this case is not being linked with the one involving "the Hairdresser" but it is still in it's early stages."
It was over a month and a half ago that Zbigniew Boniek stated on the TV show Cafe Football that Korona was up to it's neck in the murky waters of match fixing - an opinion which cause the Kielcan club to threaten legal action.
Source: Gazeta Online Edition
Poland 0 - USA 3
March 28th, 2008
I'm not going to do a match report for this one. Having read some of the press after the game I was convinced it couldn't have been as bad as they made out - I was wrong. I downloaded the game and managed to sit through most of it and Poland were atrocious - no movement up front (I'm looking at you Pawel Brozek!), not more than three passes strung together (I'm looking at you, er, the whole team!) and a couple of uncharcteristic goalkeeping errors (I'm most definately NOT looking at you Mr Boruc - you're too hard for that sort of thing).
In lieu of a match report I've translated Leo Beenhakkers thoughts on what went wrong. It's from an interview with Gazeta Online Edition.
Asked for reasons to explain the USA game Beenhakker put it down to a"workplace accident". "A very painful one but it's a one off. One lost game, albeit by a large margin and to set-plays, cannot destroy our faith in the players and the team".
The Dutch does not believe that we have problems in defense (really? ed) - "[The game against the USA] showed everyone the mistakes that we make but I don't see any issues with defence. The same players, in a similar formation, played during the Euro 2008 qualifiers and did very well. They were effective in their game. Against the USA they weren't as good. I think they let their minds wander a bit and they weren't as combative as usual - that's why I'm not happy with them. I know however that we can overcome this".
Beenhakker remains upbeat about the Euro 2008 finals - "I don't see why we shouldn't do well. One defeat shouldn't change your goals and and hopes. Our aim has always been to go beyond the group stages and to do that we'll have to play three games within ten days at the highest level. I don't think any nation is thinking beyond the quarter finals and we're the same - why should we be any different? If we get that far, then we'll thing about advancing further".
Source: Gazeta Online Edition
You're Shit And You Know You Are
March 6th, 2008
"I'm not really bothered who's going to qualify from our group in second place but I have the feeling that it'll be G*rmany. Your players aren't good enough - we are better in every single position". That's the opinion of Croatia and Portsmouth midfielder Niko Krancjar on Poland's chances at the Euro 2008 finals.
Krancjar also has doubts about whether any Pole would make the grade at his club side Portsmouth, again citing what he believes is a very poor squad of players. Croatia are, according to him, a team of the present whereas Poland live in the past - "Our third place finish in the World Cup is a modern day achievement whereas yours is prehistoric" says the cuddly funster.
Krancjar does admit that Polands qualifying campaign was successful - they finished atop the group ahead of Portugal and Serbia - but adds (surprisingly for such a modest fellow) that his sides was better. "We won against England at Wembley! Have you ever won away against England?! [yes, we have but I think you'd probably say it doesn't count as dinosaurs roamed the land in those times - ed.] We had our day and I think we will have three days at the finals. We have the right players - not nearly men, but true superstars of the world game".
I for one would not dare argue with a star of the world game who shines as brightly as Mr Krancjar, especially not one who played in a side which defeated the footballing powerhouse which is England who were, we must remember, under the stewardship of Mr Steve McClaren - a manager who must surely take his place alongside other managerial greats such as, er Mick Wadsworth?
Mr Krancjar, I salute you and would like to extend my thanks for your services to Polish pre-match teamtalks.
Original Article: Gazeta Online
Poland 2 - 0 Estonia
February 28th, 2008
18 months ago it was a joy to watch Radoslaw Matusiak and Lukasz Gargula playing in the national side - it seemed that they had some sort of special understanding. One seemed to know exactly where the other would be and where he wanted the ball played. This cooperation played a massive part in Poland's qualification for the Euro 2008 finals. Recently however things have not being going too well for the pair and they had both dropped out of the international setup. Last night was their chance to shine again and stake a claim to a place in the squad for the finals.
Matusiak is back in Poland and playing regularly whilst Gargula has recovered from his injuries and is returning to the form he showed during the qualifying campaign. With little time left it was obvious that they were both out to impress and convince Beenhakker that they are worthy of seats on the plane to Austria in June.
Initially it seemed that the almost telepathic understanding between the two was no longer - Gargula tried to find Matusiak on a number of occasions only for the latter to lack the pace to latch on to through balls or, on the occasions when he did receive a pass, fail to out manoeuvre his opponent. His play in the air has also suffered during his absence - he hadn't played for a year and to be honest it showed. On 38 minutes normal service was resumed - Gargula crossed and Matusiak flicked the ball past the Estonian 'keeper to give Poland the lead. This was the second game in a row in which Beenhakker's players had managed to score from a set-piece, an improvement over the qualifiers during which his side found the net only once in a similar fashion. It's obviously something that has been worked on in training and Poland's second came about from a corner which Tomasz Zahorski converted to extend their lead on 72 minutes. Poland's winning margin could have been greater had Michal Golinski's free-kick efforts not been kept out by the woodwork and a splendid save from Pavel Londak.
Although he didn't look entirely happy before his goal it was obvious that Matusiak has not lost his instincts in front of goal and after his strike his play was much more relaxed and assured even if he did send a glorious chance over the bar on 52 minutes. A muscle strain saw him substituted on 80 minutes but his performance up to that point, particularly after his goal, should see him as the number one choice for the number nine shirt come June.
The first half was, if not thrilling, interesting. The Poles play lacked pace and cutting edge, mainly due to the lack of decent balls in the middle of the park. Although Gargula played well, he seemed more concerned with not losing the ball than creating attacking opportunities and at times he held on to the ball for too long. There were moments when the defence looked shaky, losing the ball on a number of occasions and Przyrowski had one of those "David James too much Playstation moments" he is prone to, letting the ball slide through his hands and into the path of Kink. Luckily the Estonian fired his shot into the post and Przyrowski was able to make amends by saving the follow up.
The second half provided a much better spectacle. Grosicki seemed to come alive and created five times as many chances in the first 15 minutes than he had in the whole of the first 45. Lisowski and Pawelec seemed to gain confidence as the game went on and grew more menacing as attacking forces as the game went on. Pazdan shone in the middle.
Poland's dominance over their Estonian rivals grew as the game progressed and they were able to dictate the play with relative ease. Poland's maturity was evident even though they were without their "overseas galacticos" as well as the leading Polish league players. Polands dominance did not wane when Beenhakker made four substitutions on the hour - they continued to impose themselves and play the game the way they wanted to.
It seems that Beenhakker's latest trio of "unknowns" have proved themselves as decent players at international level although obviously the level of the opposition has to be taken into account. The Dutch now has some more names to add to his list of possibles for the Finals and it seems that Poland might just have the talent which Beenhakker talked of when he took the job.
Source: Gazeta Online Edition
More Beenhakker Discoveries?
February 26th, 2008
Murawski, Dudka, Lobodzinski - in the space of 15 months Leo Beenhakker has turned these players from virtual unknowns into mainstaiys of the national side, shocking even the players own club managers in the process. Now it seems he has found a new group of players whom he feels have hidden potential which no one else seems to have noticed.
Exactly what Beenhakker has seen in his latest trio of surprise callups is obviously way past the understanding of mere fans such as myself, but in this instance it also seems to be beyond the compreshension of the players clubs. Lisowski has been, at best, pedestrian in an admittedly poor Widzew side whilst Pazdan (Zabrze) and Kokoszka (Wisla) are viewed very much as squad players at their clubs. What could Beenhakker have possibly seen in this trio that has evaded the Polish football fraternity? Who knows? We should however hope that we see a repeat of the last time Leo pulled such a trick and brought Bronowicki, Lobodzinski, Murawski et al to our attention, securing Poland's first ever European Championship Finals appearance in the process.
"You have the same talent as other nations - you have only to find it" was Beenhakker's summation of Polish football when he took over the Polish side. Many were sceptical, believing that he would soon change his opinion when he saw his first Ekstraklasa game. However, he has confounded his critics and despite being a foreigner, is showing himself to be more of a true "Polish" manager than his predecessors who almost without exception, viewed all Poles abroad as being de facto a class above any player in Poland. Even more suprisingly the Dutchman has unearthed a number of players who were not even making it into their club sides and yet others who he has used to great effect in positions totally alien to them. The majority of his experiments have been successful and have brought a number of Polish league players from relative obscurity into the world of international football.
Later this week Poland will play Estonia in Wronki with a squad made up entirely of home based talent. Out of the 18 squad members only Gargula and Matusiak are currently considered to be serious contenders for a trip to Austria in June - others such as Dudk, Lobodzinski and Murawski are missing.... "We don't need to look at these players" says Beenhakker's assistant Dariusz Dziekanowski - "we know all we need to know about them already". The emphasis seems to be on continually searching for new players and new approaches which is a departure for the Polish national side in recent years.
It would have been easy for Beenhakker to rest on his laurels and stick with the squad which gained qualification to the finals but it seems that he has an eye on the future and is not in his current role simply to pick up his pay cheque at the end of the month. This constant need to improve has lead to a number of surprises - his last two "discoveries" are Jakub Wawrzyniak, who had recently lost his place as left back in the Legia team and Tomasz Zahorski who had not scored for Gornik and yet was picked ahead of his team mate Dawid Jarek, one of the leagues top scorers at the time. Both played in the last Euro 2008 qualifier in Serbia. Zahorski, playing in Division IV two years ago, played well and got an assist whilst Wawrzyniak had an absolute stormer playing in defensive midfield, a position he'd never filled before!
The question everyone is asking is can these new callups perform as admirably as Beenhakker's previously un-earthed gems? "A few of the names could be surprising to certain people but these are call-ups for the future" says Dziekanowski. "We're not going to call-up 30 year olds - we're concentrating on youth. We look at the whole picture - we go to games, speak to managers about what players are like off the pitch. We look at their potential as well as their current status. We look at how they cope with various positions on the pitch. We see a significant improvement in players who aren't currently playing regularly in their club sides but get a call up to the squad, speak with Leo, get to know him and his outlook on football. A good example is Zahorski.
Also on the cards for the finals is the omission of Jacek Bak. The 34 year old central defender has made it known that he will be retiring from international football after the championships and efforts to find a capable replacement have been on on-going for some time now. Beenhakker seems to favour Kokoszka even though he is third choice behind Cleber and Glowacki at Wisla Krakow. Kokoszka's main attribute seems to be that he is equally comfortable on the right side of defence as he is in the middle.
Pawelec and Lisowski are not central defenders - they're more suited to doing their defensive duties on the wings - and there are some naysayers within Polish football who claim their selection is down to nepotism and not to talent as the national coaching team would have us believe. In the case of Pawelec Beenhakker's critics point out that he played under Boguslaw Kaczmarek at Gornik Leczna and is currently at Gornik Zabrze where his boss is Marek Kostrzewa, a close personal friend of Beenhakker. If anything Lisowski's inclusion in the squad has caused even more controversy - he played in only 11 of 17 games during the autumn round. Marek Zub, Widzew manager says that he can see why Lisowski has made the squad - "He's combative, aggressive and you can see that it really matters to him when he's out on the pitch".
Kaczmarek has his own explanation for Lisowski's inclusion - "It's possible for someone playing exceedingly well in the league not to make the squad - we could have three or four players already in the squad whom we view as being superior. What we don't have in Polish football at the moment is an abundance of left backs - currently we have Grzegorz Bronowicki, a natural right back, playing in that position and previously Michal Zewlakow made it his own".
Stefan Majewski, Cracovia manager, is also sympathetic to the national managers problem - "The issue arises from the changing nature of football. Nowadays a defender playing on the wing must be both a defensive and an attacking force. We are suffering from a distinct lack of left-sided players in the Polish league at this time. Decent left-sided players at the moment are Marek Wasiluk at Jagiellonii Bialystok whom I tried to sign, Jakub Wawrzyniak, Tomasz Kielbowicz and..... well therein lies the problem".
Another position where the Poles find themselves a little lightweight is the middle of the park. Sobolewski has retired from international footbal and Radomski has hit the thirty mark and is becoming injury prone leaving Beenhakker with only Lewandowski and Dudka. It looks likely that Pazdan and Majewski will provide new options in this position.
Up front could also prove to be a problem but Dawid Nowak will hopefully turn out to be the striker that Beenhakker has been searching for so desperatley for so long. The two forwards who seemed to be in pole position for a regular place in the sqaud, Pawel Brozek and Bartlomiej Grzelak, look not to have made the grade. It must be assumed from his lack of a call-up for the Estonia game that Brozek is out of the running and Grzelak, whom Beenhakker called up a year ago, has been nothing short of atrocious at Legia this season, a fact that Beenhakker will know all about from Jan Urban, Legia's manager and a co-worker. Nowak did well against Finland in Cyprus and this has earned him another chance.
According to Beenhakker a call-up to the squad is only the start of the journey and is meant to inspire the players in question on to harder work. He has always said that to catch his eye with a decent run of performances is relatively easy but to keep him happy is much more difficult. Lets hope that the current crop of "unknowns" surprise everyone but Leo and his coaching staff - a Toto Schillachi type discovery just before the finals would be a bit of a bonus :)
Source: Gazeta Online Edition
